I've mentioned this here and there in passing I think, but I've never openly discussed this at length. The Lord delivered me out of a cult, namely (as you probably guessed by the title of this piece) National Socialism, known more famously as Naziism. I am personally unsure on whether or not the Lord converted me to him for the first time when I left NatSoc ideology, or if it was a time of deep backsliding and enmity with God that he delivered me out of. Either way the Lord saved me and I strive to live everyday for the glory of God. I want to provide you all with insight into the mindset of someone engrossed in this ideology. I will start out by saying there is no monolithic National Socialist set of doctrines, and you'll find even the original German political leaders differed on issues. In the grand scheme of things I was in some regards moderate. I never felt like I hated other races or ethnic groups just because they were different, and as far as I remembered I never denied the Holocaust, although I did believe the Soviets and Allies exaggerated much of what happened. Nevertheless, there is much hatred deep-rooted in the ideology. Many do hate Jewish people in general, and I also held a suspicion of Jewish political leaders, and their influence in the rise of atheism and communism. If I remember correctly I felt quite a bit of hatred for basically any other political view, and usually quite a bit of hatred was directed at those who advocated those views. That is one of the things that became a gateway out of the religion, particularly because I think I remember being conscious of violent, hateful things I wished for American political leaders. One interesting thing to note is that really is no shame involved. No embarrassment, or desire to hide any Nazi views. I talked about them all the time, and everyone that I knew, knew how I felt about politics, and my sympathetic defences of Hitler and his party.
One of the things that may be of interest to those perhaps attempting to help people out of this ideology is that I personally had an incredibly negative view of modern white supremacists who pretend to be Nazis, a.k.a. Skinheads. I still don't understand why they needed to shave their heads, all the original Nazis had hair. Anyway, think about it like your view of Catholics, or extreme charismatics, they might share some minor similarities, or appear just like you to the outside world, but in reality you have entirely different views and goals. They ruined the image of true National Socialism, basically. Dealing with true National Socialists is very different from dealing with racists. National Socialism is certainly a religion. It is all I could think about, talk about, write about (figuratively). It affected my outlook on everything. All of life was governed by National Socialism. It is so much more than a political ideology. I don't consider Mussolini's fascism a religion. It certainly affects your views on civil government and culture, but your mind is transformed by National Socialism. At least, mine was. I imagine how I felt about it is how it affected the young men and women enamored with Hitler in the Hitlerjunge. I do believe there was something (and still is) supernaturally evil about Hitler and the Nazis. It goes beyond a cult of personality. When listening to Hitler's speeches (or other German leaders from that period) there was something so arousing about them. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but it was always so emotional. Exciting, empowering. I can't explain how it feels. I actually feel that if I listened to one of his speeches now I would still feel some of those emotions. I believe that many German people, especially the youth, were so enamored by his speaking, and from what I've read and heard, when he ended his own life (I never, and still don't, believe he survived and escaped to anywhere) it seemed like an air of power had been lifted off of the state. I think I remember hearing stories of Hitler Youth members seemingly becoming overwhelmed with what they had done and believed almost as soon as Hitler killed himself. Once again it's a strange thing to try to explain, but trust me when I tell you National Socialism is truly more than just political views. From what I remember there are those who seem to believe that if you leave the views behind you never really truly believed in them. It's odd, and frightening. Sadly after all this I really have no advice on how to evangelize to Nazis. I never felt I had to give up Christianity if I remember correctly (please forgive for using this term so often, I really don't want to misrepresent anything, and it's hard me to remember my emotions from over a year ago) but Christ certainly took a backseat to the ideology. When you're involved in it you hear Hitler as if God himself is audibly speaking to you, you sing their hymns with a earnest longing for what they espouse. The national hymn of the Third Reich declares millions will one day look to the swastika full of hope. There is also a lone wolf kind of experience. I don't remember feeling discouraged by being alone in my convictions. I believe Goebbels or someone of the sort had stated something along the lines of, even if one man holds the flag (and holds to their ideology), the dream will live forever. Even being the last National Socialist on earth is an achievement. I doubt any man's urging would've stopped me. Perhaps it would've encouraged me instead. God had to truly open my eyes. The best thing to do for those wrapped up in this cult is to pray. I hope this was somehow helpful to some of you. I may not be the most technical expert on the subject (although I did leave out quite a bit of intellectual matters relating to National Socialism), but perhaps you've never gotten a glimpse into someone who once lived inside of it.
One of the things that may be of interest to those perhaps attempting to help people out of this ideology is that I personally had an incredibly negative view of modern white supremacists who pretend to be Nazis, a.k.a. Skinheads. I still don't understand why they needed to shave their heads, all the original Nazis had hair. Anyway, think about it like your view of Catholics, or extreme charismatics, they might share some minor similarities, or appear just like you to the outside world, but in reality you have entirely different views and goals. They ruined the image of true National Socialism, basically. Dealing with true National Socialists is very different from dealing with racists. National Socialism is certainly a religion. It is all I could think about, talk about, write about (figuratively). It affected my outlook on everything. All of life was governed by National Socialism. It is so much more than a political ideology. I don't consider Mussolini's fascism a religion. It certainly affects your views on civil government and culture, but your mind is transformed by National Socialism. At least, mine was. I imagine how I felt about it is how it affected the young men and women enamored with Hitler in the Hitlerjunge. I do believe there was something (and still is) supernaturally evil about Hitler and the Nazis. It goes beyond a cult of personality. When listening to Hitler's speeches (or other German leaders from that period) there was something so arousing about them. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but it was always so emotional. Exciting, empowering. I can't explain how it feels. I actually feel that if I listened to one of his speeches now I would still feel some of those emotions. I believe that many German people, especially the youth, were so enamored by his speaking, and from what I've read and heard, when he ended his own life (I never, and still don't, believe he survived and escaped to anywhere) it seemed like an air of power had been lifted off of the state. I think I remember hearing stories of Hitler Youth members seemingly becoming overwhelmed with what they had done and believed almost as soon as Hitler killed himself. Once again it's a strange thing to try to explain, but trust me when I tell you National Socialism is truly more than just political views. From what I remember there are those who seem to believe that if you leave the views behind you never really truly believed in them. It's odd, and frightening. Sadly after all this I really have no advice on how to evangelize to Nazis. I never felt I had to give up Christianity if I remember correctly (please forgive for using this term so often, I really don't want to misrepresent anything, and it's hard me to remember my emotions from over a year ago) but Christ certainly took a backseat to the ideology. When you're involved in it you hear Hitler as if God himself is audibly speaking to you, you sing their hymns with a earnest longing for what they espouse. The national hymn of the Third Reich declares millions will one day look to the swastika full of hope. There is also a lone wolf kind of experience. I don't remember feeling discouraged by being alone in my convictions. I believe Goebbels or someone of the sort had stated something along the lines of, even if one man holds the flag (and holds to their ideology), the dream will live forever. Even being the last National Socialist on earth is an achievement. I doubt any man's urging would've stopped me. Perhaps it would've encouraged me instead. God had to truly open my eyes. The best thing to do for those wrapped up in this cult is to pray. I hope this was somehow helpful to some of you. I may not be the most technical expert on the subject (although I did leave out quite a bit of intellectual matters relating to National Socialism), but perhaps you've never gotten a glimpse into someone who once lived inside of it.